Imperfection
by staindgrey
Summary: [Sequel to Perfection] Heero leaves Relena believing it will keep her safe from the unknown power after his life. But while he's away, could she develop feelings for someone else? R x D and 01 x R


**Disclaimer: **I do not own Gundam Wing, any of its characters, or anything associated with the Gundam series. That's a shocker. I do, however, own this storyline, considering I made it myself, so don't go stealing my ideas. Thank you.

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_The year, After Colony 198. Peace has finally been achieved following the Great War between Earth and the White Fang, a group fighting for the independence of the space colonies from the Earth's World Nation. After seeing the sacrifices made through war, Earth and space were finally able to coexist in peace and create the Earth Sphere United Nation, eliminating all former boundaries and weaponry, following the ideals of total pacifism held by the Peacecraft family and the Sanc Kingdom. Since this new nation was created, all mobile suits and other weaponry, including the Gundams, were destroyed in order to maintain peace and prevent the misuse of such devices. The Gundam pilots have gone their separate ways, some to the Preventers, a small group created behind the scenes to foil any attempts at overthrowing the fragile and vulnerable government, and some to the quiet of home life. Vice Foreign Minister Relena Darlain, choosing to keep her paternal father's name over that of the Peacecrafts, is now a leading figure in this world peace, along with her personal secretary, Dorothy Catalonia._

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**Imperfection by Staindgrey**

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**Part I**

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The audience was silent, attentive, taking in every polished word spoken by the young woman's elegant tongue. On the platform stood Relena Darlain-Peacecraft, former Queen of the Earth Sphere United Nation, now its Vice Foreign Minister. She spoke like a prophet bringing messages from the heavens, gaining each and every person's full attention and nothing less. Her stature was firm, unwavering, and her voice was just as determined. Her ideals were fact to her, and she was merely trying to project them for everyone to see as clearly as she possibly could. It was nothing new to her- she'd lost the butterflies some odd years ago- but every time she took the microphone she still felt that new sensation of an entire crowd gathering to hear her, to listen to her ideas and, hopefully, help to make them happen. She knew that each and every speech was vital in maintaining the fragile peace she had accomplished, and she was determined to give every one as if it were her last.

"The truth is as each and every one of you already knows: the thoughts of the mind cannot be overshadowed by the ideals of another. One cannot be forced against their will in a matter such as marriage just as they cannot be forced into any religion or political practice. If they were made to believe a way that the government wanted them to believe, could that be called true peace? Or would it simply be another counterfeit pacifism that will ultimately lead to another war?" She paused, scanning the audience not in its entirety, but rather at each individual face, taking note in her mind of which ones had an expression of disapproval and just how many there were; she was accustomed to the practice of speech-giving, knowing how to be aware of her opposition and its strength before taking them on in a debate. But as she quickly glanced from face to face, one person in particular caught her eye, just as she always did. Her navy eyes stared right back at her, resolute and static, looking as if they could see right into her soul and analyze every one of her thoughts before she spoke. A grin was spread across the girl's face as she waited along with the other spectators for Relena to continue.

"It is my belief that it is not the government's responsibility, nor is it their right, to determine whether a citizen can or cannot be allowed to marry another of the same sex. It crosses no boundaries regarding war, death, or violence, but rather, only those of religious or ethical roots. These roots are determined by one's heritage and what circumstances they grew up under; for instance, a person born in the former United States of America would have much different principles than those of a person born in former China. Now that these political borders have been abolished, it is also time for these ethical borders to be eliminated as well. It is not our right as a world government to tell someone who he or she may marry; rather, it is our duty to let their free will stand and only make laws to benefit those simply trying to live their lives in peace. We should not be concentrating on inconsequential arguments such as homosexual marriage, but, instead, we should be intent on doing away with poverty, hunger, and tensions between former warring nations."

As the ashen-skinned beauty continued with her lecture, Dorothy's mind was already playing out the scenario of what was to follow in her head. A man would stand up and ask something completely off topic about Relena's ethics, trying to both shake her confidence with his differing opinion and bring others against her exclusively for a distaste of said moral principles. It had been done before, and alas it had failed. It would happen again, and it would fail again; this, Dorothy already knew. Relena was strong, much stronger than her delicate figure and young age portrayed. No off-the-street politician was going to bring her down. No, it would take more than that to bring Relena Darlain to her knees...

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"Terrific work, if I do say so myself, Miss Relena!" the ecstatic blonde exclaimed as Relena made her way away from the assembly. Relena hardly looked back. She was familiar with Dorothy's fervent praise by now.

"Thank you, Dorothy, but it was hardly any different than last week's address. I don't think I'm worthy of too much congratulation tonight." Her expression was that of a tired woman, overworked and underpaid. She wasn't by any means underpaid, but she never seemed to have any time to herself, and it bothered her. For most girls her age, this was the high point of their life, the pinnacle of happiness full of love and passion and merriment. Yet she chose this life, a life that would go down in history books and other documents for ages to come. Sure, many wished for such a legacy, but she was convinced that no one in their right mind would enjoy creating such a legacy if they had the chance to experience it. She was doing this not for herself, but for the peace of an entire world.

"You are much too hard on yourself, Miss Relena." Dorothy's eyes twinkled as the words escaped her fair lips. Relena gave a small grin in return.

"Please, you don't have to call me 'Miss Relena'. I've told you that before."

"Yes, but you are still my superior, so I believe the title suits the occasion quite well." She brushed the long strands of platinum hair behind her shoulder, letting them fall to her waist as far as they could reach. She then continued, "But may I ask, why is it that you speak so much on this topic, as opposed to world hunger or something else along those lines? One might wonder if you were a homosexual yourself."

Relena gave a small chuckle to mix with Dorothy's. "The other diplomats can handle those problems on their own. It's ethical problems that seem to be the height of the issue as far as maintaining peace is concerned. Every week there is a new uprising of some sort protesting a world law, and it all stems from old practices and beliefs still present today. It seems that the heads of this new government think that eliminating borders on a map will also eliminate the original thoughts and feelings of cultures, but that is not the case."

"Oh, Miss Relena, you sound just as convincing in private discussion as in public," Dorothy said as she closed her eyes and clasped her hands together in fangirl motion. "I really do admire you!" Relena didn't respond. She instead continued walking, making her way through the building's main entrance door held open for her and to her bright pink limousine. Dorothy took the silence as an unseen gratitude and followed. _Oh, how you truly impress me, Miss Relena, _she thought, _being able to hold that façade in all aspects of your life. But you have a weakness, a very noticeable one at that... You'd better not let yourself falter if it were exploited; that would be a true disaster for your naive pacifism..._

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"I still don't understand you, Heero," a mildly loud voice stated quite bluntly. "You have the heart of the former queen of the world, yet you're sitting up here avoiding the sight of her."

"Hm," was his placid response. "I'm not avoiding her out of fear. I'm waiting to see if these terrorists are actually after her or me."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," the braided American grunted back, "spare me the details. I just think it's stupid to pass up such a chance with a girl like that because it's dangerous. She's a politician, of course she's gonna be in danger." Duo Maxwell turned his chair to face his comrade on the other side of the cockpit, though Heero himself never even tried to turn around. "But c'mon, you're Heero Yuy, savior of the world and space! You'd think that she'd be a whole lot better off with you living under the same roof as her anyways!"

Heero still refused to glance back. "I'm protecting her by staying here," was all he said. Same old Heero, no elaboration at all; just the cold, bare facts.

"Well, whenever you wake up and smell the hot chick waiting, let me know," he smart aleckly said as he turned back to face his controls. "I'll gladly cover your shift for you to go see her. That's just the kinda guy I am." No response from Heero. If there were such a thing as space crickets, they'd be chirping.

Suddenly something rocked the ship. Heero and Duo both grabbed hold of their seats as it passed, each of them immediately looking at one another with the same thoughts in mind- _What happened?_

"There must have been a breech in the docking bay," Heero coolly stated. He reached for his pistol and readied himself to fire. Duo did the same.

"Ya think it's a mobile suit?"

"No. Our radars would've picked it up long ago. Besides, if they had cloaking technology to get past our radar, they would've blown the ship up rather than just get inside."

"Ehh, true..." Duo had a look of disappointment on his face after once again being outsmarted by the always-one-step-ahead Heero. As Heero grabbed his helmet and floated towards the exit doorway, Duo followed suit. "These guys chose the wrong ship to barge into, that's for sure." Duo smirked at his own comment as Heero's expression remained unchanged. Within seconds, the two were out of the cockpit, the entry door sealing shut behind them.

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"Heero..." Relena stared out the hotel window, clutching a small, crumpled piece of paper in her dainty hand. It had visible smudge spots scattered on it, but nothing to indicate any particular importance. She didn't need to read it; she'd already memorized it word for word. But she held onto it nonetheless, keeping it as a reminder of him... of his promise...

Just then there was a small tapping on the suite's front door, followed by the sound of someone coming in. Relena hastily crushed the note in her hand, hiding it at her side as she turned to face the visitor. It was Dorothy.

"I hope that I'm not disturbing you, Miss Relena," she said in a saintly tone, "but I was wondering if you would like to join me in the veranda for some tea."

Relena smiled in return, letting out an inward sigh as she did. "Of course. I'd love to." With that, she walked over to her momentary desk, opened one of its undersized drawers and placed the paper ball inside, quickly shutting it and heading over to her guest. Dorothy observed every motion, a content smirk spreading across her ashen face. Relena grabbed her jacket and went to the door, smiling pleasantly in return. "Shall we be going?"

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"Hold on," Heero instructed as he held out an arm in obstruction to Duo's path. Duo, moving freely without gravity, flew into it expectedly, his nose taking the full blow of Heero's forearm. Immediately he pushed backwards in more annoyance than pain, holding his nose as he spoke in an irate tone.

"Owww! What'd ya do that for?"

"The air's still being vacuumed out of the docking bay; going in there now would be suicide. Are you letting your training slip?" Duo knew what he meant. When an air-filled room was breeched, the air would automatically rush out into space as if it were being sucked up by a vacuum cleaner. But with a room the size of the docking bay, it may take a few minutes. If they went in right away, they might be sucked out into space as well. _Damn that stupid know-it-all... _Duo's mind muttered.

"I knew that already, you didn't have to clobber me, ya know." Duo began to throw his helmet on, letting his obnoxiously large rattlesnake fall out from its bottom.

"Get over it," was Heero's impassive response. He, too, locked his helmet into place, switching on the oxygen valves as he did. After about another minute of waiting, stated Heero, "Alright." He removed his arm and pressed the door's unlock switch. It then released and slid open, allowing the duo entrance into the bay. Heero stepped in first, his trained eyes taking in each and every detail of the blackened area as he did. Duo followed suit, not finding anything particularly out of place besides the gaping hole in the right wall of the room.

"They couldn't even blow up the doors to make repairs easier, stupid bastards-"

"Shh." Heero's eyes resembled a tiger's once it was ready to pounce. They were motionless and piercing, intent on catching the prey they were locked on. Duo glanced over to where he was looking and saw the prey as well: a single man, about ten meters away, holding an automatic machine gun. His eyes were wavering, like a scared soldier trying his best not to look like the petrified child he was. A grin was smeared across his face.

"So, I take it you're pilots zero-one and zero-two, Heero Yuy and Duo Maxwell of the Preventers."

"Well _obviously _we're from the Preventers- you're on _our_ ship!" Duo shot out.

"Who are you?" Heero softly demanded, his automatic aiming directly at the intruder's brow.

"My name's not important. All you need to know..." his grin steadily grew wider as he spoke, "...is that I'm gonna be the one to kill you."

"Tough words for a nameless person," Duo scolded. The nameless soldier huffed.

"Who are you working for?" Heero decided to continue his investigation before he wrung his neck.

"The next great emperor of the Earth Sphere; that's all you need to know." His out-of-place smirk never left his face.

"You sure are talking a lot for an assassin." Heero's cold eyes continued to penetrate the soldier's confident façade; it was no wonder he was known as the perfect soldier. That goofy grin was now history. "Any other last words?"

The man chuckled and lifted his weapon as he pulled the trigger. "Long live the Romefeller Foundation!"

In an instant one man was dead, one wounded, the other still standing, holding his pistol in a firing position. The nameless assassin had gotten off a quick shot just before his brains flooded the back of his helmet, a nice knew piercing located right between his eyebrows. His face was like that of a ghost, the air instantly being sucked away as his helmet's shield shattered. He hadn't even hit the ground yet.

Duo's shot missed by a fraction, but only because he'd been the one that was hit. He felt a sharp, hot pain in his right thigh, along with the warm liquid sensation that followed. He dropped his weapon to grab at his wound, a loud hissing sound escaping his lips. Heero turned to face his friend as he stuck his pistol back in its holster on his pant leg. "You alright?"

"Course I am," he grunted. "Small scratch like this isn't enough to kill the God of Death."

"Suit yourself," Heero said coldly as he jumped over the side rail to reach the bottom of the docking bay. Duo's eyes shot to the size of apples as he realized that he was leaving him.

"Hey! I didn't mean I wasn't injured _at all!_ Get back here and lend me a hand!"

"He left his ship." The comment struck Duo's ears unguarded. Sure, he'd only been clipped, but was Heero really that heartless to not even so much as hand him a band-aid? _Perfect soldier... Big deal. He's the perfect jackass if you ask me._

"Aren't covert assassins supposed to be more discreet than that on a mission in case they get caught?" Duo grunted again as he stood on his own power. It was only a scratch; he had convinced himself of it.

"Yeah," Heero replied from down below. "You aren't supposed to leave any evidence in case you fail the mission. This guy left everything."

"What do you mean?" Duo gingerly leapt off the balcony to join his comrade below who was already looking inside the transport.

"The ship's still on and he left the coordinates of the autopilot unchanged. We know exactly where he came from and when."

"So he was just a guinea pig for a trap?"

"Seems like it." Heero was now sitting inside the ship playing with configurations. "His lines earlier sounded rehearsed, like he had been told to tell us certain things. He knew he was on a suicide mission."

"So do you think what he said was true?" Duo thought aloud, "Maybe that crap about 'the next great emperor' and the Romefeller Foundation was just a bunch of bull."

"Only one way to find out." Suddenly the hatch began to close as the transport's thrusters began to heat up. Heero was still inside.

"Heero? Heero! Have you gone insane! They're gonna kill you!"

"They're gonna try," Heero's voice echoed from Duo's communication link inside his helmet. "Whoever this is didn't think we'd take the bait; he made it too obvious."

"Well then I'm following you. I'll call back Wufei and Trowa and we'll-"

"No use," Heero cut in. "They're both on assignments. You stay here in case something comes up. Sally will be back from the L3 Colony tomorrow."

"Whoa, hold up." Duo thought for a second about the first of Heero's comments, then continued, "Didn't Trowa resign from the Preventers?"

"Then why'd you bring his name up?"

Duo wanted badly to punch the guy right in the nose. "It slipped, sorry. But then why'd you lie to me?"

"I didn't."

These short, blank responses were about to send Duo over the edge. "What the hell are you talking about! You just said he's on an assignment but he resigned!"

"He's not on a mission from the Preventers. It's a personal favor." Heero then took the controls of his commandeered vessel and lifted off the ground, turning to face the newly created exit. "Just don't worry about it. For now, try and get some DNA samples from that guy and figure out who he is. I'll be back in one piece." Without a moment's hesitation he turned off his comm. link and flew out of the hanger into the endless stretch of stars.

_Heero... I hate your guts. _Duo gave a sheepish grin and turned back towards the balcony from which they came, leaping up to it. _I wonder what kinda 'personal favor' Heero could've possibly wanted Trowa to do...? He never asks for favors... At least, not from me... _Duo heaved a long sigh as he finally landed at his destination and saw the dead body left there. _Now for the boring work... Damn, my leg hurts..._

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End file.
